The reigning queen of dressage, TSF Dalera BB, is being retired, rider Jessica von Bredow-Werndl announced Tuesday in a video posted to social media.

Now 17, the mare von Bredow-Werndl calls her “soulmate” has been nearly unbeatable for the past five years of her Grand Prix career, finishing out of first place just five times in more than 50 starts in international competition since November 2019. She was unbeatable in two Olympics—Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024—and has a resume that includes winning four Olympic gold medals, six European championships, seven German national championships and two FEI Dressage World Cup Finals (2022 Germany and 2023 United States). 

“I am slowly starting to realize what has happened over the last few weeks. But to be honest, I’m only just beginning to realize what has happened over the last few years,” von Bredow-Werndl said in the video, speaking in German with English subtitles.

“ ‘Dalera’ has been so much more to me than just my sport partner over the last few years. I’ve never experienced anything before like connecting with a horse on such a soul level that we didn’t need words, which don’t even exist. We just understood each other, and I always knew what she needed. And she always knew everything, whenever I said anything. She just understood me, and she still understands me today, and that is the beauty of it. I simply love spending time with her.” 

After the pair won individual gold in Paris earlier this month, von Bredow-Werndl told reporters that, while the Olympics would not be the last appearance for Trakehner mare (Easy Game—Dark Magic, Handryk), they would retire soon and not be aiming at another championship. Her ultimate goal, she said, is the breed Dalera next season—and “spoil her ‘til the last day of her life.”

On Tuesday, she announced that with Dalera’s owners, Béatrice Bürchler-Keller and Micaela Werndl, and trainers, they have decided the mare “will no longer take part in competition.”

They have, however, planned a few more of what von Bredow-Werndl termed “joyful appearances,” naming the Trakehner Verband’s annual Hengstmarkt, taking place Nov. 28-30 in Neumünster, Germany, “to celebrate with the Trakehners” and the FEI Dressage World Cup Basel (Switzerland) in January 2025.

“I know Dalera loves the stage so much, and that is why it’s important to me that she gets to do this a few more times,” von Bredow-Werndl said.

Dalera came to von Bredow-Werndl as an 8-year-old, and she developed the mare through the FEI levels. The pair won the first international Grand Prix they entered in 2018 with a score of 75.06% at Ebreichsdorf (Austria). They achieved their personal best score at last year’s FEI Dressage European Championship in Riesenbeck, Germany, earning a 92.81% in their winning freestyle that set a new record score for the championship.

Watch their record-setting freestyle from Riesenbeck, courtesy of FEI.tv:

Von Bredow-Werndl said she is now looking forward to spoiling Dalera in her retirement at Aubenhausen, her home base in Germany.

“It’s like no era I’ve ever experienced before in my life, and I don’t know if I will experience it again in this same way,” she said in the video. “The journey has been something special for me, and fortunately it’s not over yet. We can keep Dalera here in Aubenhausen until her last breath, and I am already looking forward to many more wonderful years with her.”